Players Books

Chamique Holdsclaw: My Story is a powerfully inspirational book recommended for people to read in 5th grade or up. It tells the story of how Chamique went from the projects of Astoria, Queens to having a successful basketball career at the University of Tennessee where she won 3 National Championships to being picked #1 in the draft by the WNBA Washington Mystics. Throughout everything Chamique has put her family first, especially her grandmother. This is a well-paced book that you can read quickly, and it has a feel-good story to it as well.

This is a awesome book keeps the reader wanting to read. You see what it takes to get to the top Chamique's life was never easy but she made it through all the hard times with her brother and grandma by her side. This book is 2 thumbs up.

This story is about Chamique's life and everything she went through to play for the WNBA. Her life was never easy she had lots of promblems all through out her life. What of the worst things she faced was getting separated from her mother at a early age. She spent most of her life with her grandma who she will never forget, her mom had a drinking promblem and spent most of her time away from Chamique. Chamique also had a little brother that she took care of. She lived in a apartment with her grandma and brother, she played basketball in the park near her house, while girls were busy brushinhg their hair Chamique was busy beating the boys and practicing. This is a awesome book and if you enjoy watching the WNBA or any basketball you should read this book and learn what it takes to get to the top.

I found it a very informative and wonderful book to read. I really learned a lot about the history of Black tennis pros. I would definetely recommend for everyone to read this book.

congradulations to the Williams sisters winning at WImbledon together and for them battling against one another for the championship. this Book is a Must read for the tennis fan in general and also from a basic rights and understanding of the history of Blacks in tennis. this book is very in depth and is a note for note line for line read. very informative. a must have.

CHARGING THE NET: A HISTORY OF BLACKS IN TENNIS provides a fine survey of the major black figures in tennis who forced the sport to integrate. Personal interviews and in-depth research details the challenges blacks faced in entering professional status in the tennis world, with chapters surveying the achievements of individuals, teams, and organizations alike. This is a top pick not just for sports libraries, but for any general-interest collection strong in integration issues and sports. Its lively presentation blends civil rights issues with tennis sports world insights.

What more can I say than this is the best Tactics book i have ever had the plesure of reading. and I own 37 tactics books. Grandmaster Yuri Averbakh is a chess genius!!

Averbakh's theory is simple: that most chess tactics are based upon the double attack. He backs his opinion up with many pages of tactical themes. This book is an excellent read for the intermediate chess player. Also, I do not know why Amazon lists this book as currently unavailable. I purchased mine at Cardoza Publishing's website and it came brand, spankin' new!

This book was recomended to me by a friend and it is great. One of the best books of this type about combinations I own.

Unbelievable - Carol wants again drives deep to the core of the male AND female psyche to shed new light on a such a divisive topic heretofor shrouded in darkness - the true meaning of FOOTBALL!

If Women are from Venus, Men are from Canton - and only Carol is willing to tell all!!!!!! Go get'em girlie!

It is very well done and easy to read. I look forward to others in the series

I thought this was a great book. Before i didnt understand the first tthing about football. Now i sit and watch it with my husband

Who says that sequels never live up to the original? Part 2 of Aeschylus's masterpiece does just that! For those of you who don't know this "The Libation Bearers" (Part 2) picks up a few years after "Agamemnon" (Part 1) left off. Clytemnestra killed her husband Agamemnon, and she is now with her lover Aegisthus. All seems well for them, but it will not remain so. Orestes (Agamemnon's son) comes out of exile with plans to avenge his father's death (under the orders of Apollo). An interesting side note is that the great and glorious King Edward III had a similar experience. His father was killed by his mother so she could be with her lover, and at the age of 17, Edward III flipped the tables. He was to reign for 47 more years. But I am digressing. In this 2nd chapter, the chorus are some Trojan women who don't have a problem with Orestes plotting against his mother and her lover. Well, Orestes goes to his mother's house and Clytemnestra does NOT recognize him. The nurse gives up Orestes for dead and has abandoned all hope that Agamemnon will be avenged. In a comical moment, the chorus does not tell the nurse Orestes is alive, but they DO tell the nurse that she need not abandon hope. Aegisthus suspects that Orestes may still be alive, and it isn't long before Orestes accomplishes part 1 of his task and kills him. (The lover was the easy part.) Orestes does not find phase 2 of his revenge so easy. He does hesitate to kill his mother, and it is only with his friend Pylades's prompting that he can do so: "Better that men should hate you than the Gods." But of course this makes for better writing. Rather than portraying Orestes as a simple killer, the next phase of his revenge is more difficult. After killing his mother, all is not so well. He is tormented by the furies. Only he can see them. The chorus can not. The furies bear a striking resemblance to the ghost of Banquo in "Macbeth." Banquo's ghost puts Macbeth into psychological turmoil, and the fact that only he can see the ghost makes it worse. (The other characters present can't understand why Macbeth is in such a psychological frenzy.) It is even possible to wonder if this 2nd chapter of Aeschylus's masterpiece inspired that scene in Shakespeare's "Macbeth." Why not? Shortly before Shakespeare, there was a reactivation of Greek and Roman classics. So, what of Orestes now? Well, that will be answered in Part 3. ("The Eumenides") And worry not. Part 3 will also maintain the quality of Parts 1 and 2!

Who says that sequels never live up to the original? Part 2 of this phenomenal trilogy does just that! All seems well for the detestable Clytemnestra and her lover. Agamemnon's son Orestes IMMEDIATELY grabs our attention when he makes his plans to avenge the death of his father Agamemnon. What makes this such a masterpiece is that Aeschylus grabs us in phases that get more and more intense. First Orestes kills Clytemnestra's lover. Then he grabs us with a dramatic confrontation between Orestes and his wicked mother. Orestes kills her, but Aeschylus DOES NOT stop here! Orestes is then tormented by the Furies! (Furies to Greek Mythology would be like Demons to the Church.) When I finished part 2, I NEEDED some cigarettes to calm down, before I DARED TO open part 3!

"The Choephoroe" ("The Libation Bearers") is the second play in the Orestia trilogy of Aeschylus. It takes place a few years after the events covered in "Agamemnon," which tells of how Agamemnon returned victoriously from the Trojan War only to be slain by his wife Clytemnestra, who never forgave her husband for having their daughter Iphigenia sacrificed so the Achean fleet could sail for Troy ten years earlier. "The Choephoroe" finds Orestes, the son of Agamemnon, living in exile in the nearby kingdom of Phocis. However, in obedience to a command given him by the god Apollo, Orestes returns to Argos to avenge his father. Seeking out his sister Electra, Orestes disguises himself to enter the palace where he kills Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus. Orestes attempts to justify his act of matricide but in the final scene of the play becomes consumed by madness and flees from the Furies, the punishing spirits of the gods who will hound him for his hideous crime. The Orestia concludes in "The Eumenides," where Orestes is expiated of his crime and Aeschylus completes his dramatic argument for the civilized notion of justice.

The story of the murder of Clytemnestra by Orestes is a unique tale from ancient mythology because it is the one story which serves as the subject for plays by all three of the great Greek tragic poets; both Sophocles and Euripides called their versions of the tale "Electra." All three have their own perspectives on the tale and what makes the Aeschylus version stand out, besides being the middle part of the only extant trilogy from these ancient dramatic competition, is the confrontation between mother and son. After hearing that Aegisthus has been slain, Clytemnestra knows that Orestes has returned and sends her servants to get the ax with which she slew his father. But when they confront each other she reminds him that she gave him birth and nursed him through infancy. Then she argues that she was justified in killing Agamemnon. Finally she threatens him, saying Orestes will be tormented forever if he kills his mother. Orestes replied he would be tormented by his father's curse if he spares her.

This scene in the play's fourth episode is arguably the most powerful ever written by Aeschylus. Notice that neither Sophocles nor Euripides try to compete with this scene and pretty much avoid the fatal confrontation in their "Electra"s. But ironically "The Choephoroe" is the one play in the Orestia that gets the least attention (for example, it is reduced to a synopsis in Moses Hadas's "Greek Drama" collection while the other two plays are presented complete). There might be a tendency to seeing the play as the flip side of "Agamemnon," setting up the stage for the climax of "The Eumenides." Obviously I want to make an argument that this play stands on its own, even when separated from the Orestia. Note: Several years ago the Guthrie Theater did a fascinating version of the curse on the house of Atreus by doing Euripides's "Iphigenia at Aulis," Aeschylus's "Agamemnon," and Sophocles's "Electra."

This book was really good - it showed his whole life. The pictures were great and the tips accurate. It really shows the life of a player and how hard you have to try to make it big. It was a great thing for me---you should check it out.

The worst thing about this book is it doesn't have enough pages...I found myself wanting to read more. There are a lot of tips for young players and some bio information which is interesting. The pictures are great, espescially the younger ones. Thanks to Chris for sharing them with all of us.

If you were like me and were looking for a good Pronger book, your search ends! This had a lot of great information on Pronger. Let's Go Blues!

I'll just echo what others have said - Bak's book is wonderful. It combines a narrative history of the Tigers from the late 20s through the early 50s, recounting the glory years of the 1930s in greatest detail. The second part of the book is a series of oral histories with Tiger greats and unknowns during this period. It is very well written and organized, and for anyone interested in baseball during this period is a sure bet.

Mr. Bak outdoes himself on this spellbinding autobiography of 22 "greats" of Baseball Legends. Few writers can make the pictures and words come to life. Bak should be commended, as he does quite well at this. He not only gives the reader a sense of time and place, but prefaces players' interviews with a short history as well, and the paths the city and professional baseball took from the end of WWI through the early 50's. Beautiful and yet haunting pictures of the way baseball was. An extra bonus was the almost-forgotten Black professional teams as well. Good reading, and one you'll go back to read and reference time after time after time.

If Richard Bak was to write 10 books about the Detroit Tigers, I'm sure my top 10 favorite books on the team would be those books (with my appologies to Ernie Harwell). Unlike any other Detroit Tiger author, Bak puts you at the feet of the greats he talks about or interviews and makes you feel like you are at Tiger Stadium during the 1930s. He has just the right blend of personality and historical fact to each book he publishes. In Cobb Would've Caught It, Bak talks to several Tiger greats and not-so Tiger greats and puts you in the seat next to him while he interviews them. I almost catch myself wanting to ask questions to the players as each story continues on. When Bak writes a book about Detroit basball, I immediately buy it - and I am never upset. David Troppens

I am a 16 year old basketball fan and this book is every thing i ever wanted in a book. Up until i read this reading was like torture to me. But now i read all the time I can't wait until Craig Strohm writes another.

I think this is the best book I have ever read in my whole life! I used to hate to read but now I love it! This is actually the first book I've read. It is my favorite. It made me love basketball and it is my most favorite sport.

Having spent over twenty-five years teaching in classrooms in Alaska, I've read numerous survival stories. Comeback is an artfully told story about a teacher/coach and his survival - filled with tension and intrigue. The fiction will captivate readers; the truth will rend your heart. I'm a fan out of the author's past who continues to be one...

The 1997 Complete Handbook of Baseball is the last one in the great series, which began in 1971. Winter always ended for me when I would spot the new edition of this indispensible baseball guide. In the 1991 edition I spotted an error and wrote a letter to Zander Hollander about it. Several months later a typewriiten (on a real typewriter not a word processor) letter arrived thanking me for writing. Snap 'em all up if you can.

Mr. Hollander's baseball annual is one I look forward to, having bought it every year since his first edition in 1971. Somehow, I lost my 1975 copy, if anyone has one to spare! His lively, knowledgeable and often humorous comments on the players, teams and issues of the game are a delight for me as a lifelong baseball fan. This is the one book I never want to miss, come springtime, and it's the one I'd recommend to any fan of any interest level. Whether you're just learning, or wanting to learn, the game.....or a fantatic who already thinks he knows everything - this one's a "must read" and one you'll refer to again and again throughout this season and for seasons to come.

This book is a great source for player stats in the baseball season of 1996. A must have for baseball fans.

Mr. Hearn's story is terrific! He courageously talks about the ups and downs of professional baseball playing, and ties these to the ups and downs of kidney disease. His story is one of winning, and meeting the challenges, despite being asked to "catch some real foul balls" in his struggle to overcome the limitations of chronic kidney failure and dialysis. I would recommend every professional who works with people who suffer from debilitating, chronic disease to read Mr. Hearn's book!

On the surface, Ed Hearn had a brief and undistinguished career as a catcher in the major leagues. However, there is so much below the surface that needed to be told, and Hearn tells it all, the good and bad.
Hearn had a promising career as a catcher. He gives an excellent look into his life throughout school as a star athlete. He does not hold back as he tells his story, blemishes and all.
Tragically, Hearn was stricken with kidney problems, requiring a transplant. Once again, Hearn tackles this part of the story with brutal honesty. Sometimes it is painful. Sometimes it is heart-wrenching. At all times, it is inspirational.
Hearn never made a major league All-Star team, but he is truly an All-Star in life.

As an avid K.C. Royals fan, I too jumped on the 'Why did we trade David Cone for Ed Hearn' bandwagon back in 1987. After reading Ed's book and meeting him in person, I realize how shallow I was. Ed's story is a must read for all sports enthusiasts and everyone who has overcome and is need of overcoming their own 'curves' in life. God bless Ed on touching lives through this book and his many speaking engagements. His signed copy will always be at the front of my bookcase